Measuring how a wavefront deviates from being perfectly diffraction-limited has many applications. As non-limiting examples, measuring deviations, also referred to as “aberrations”, in a wavefront produced by an optical system, such as a telescope, can reveal manufacturing flaws in the system, since many optical systems, to function as best as is possible, preferably produce diffraction-limited wavefronts. By adding a component to the system that produces a wavefront that is the conjugate of the measured deviations, the system can be made to produce a more diffraction-limited wavefront and, thus, diffraction-limited performance (i.e., best possible performance).
Another example of an application where knowing the aberrations in a wavefront is useful is in correcting human vision. For instance, as noted in U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,300, by measuring deviations from the perfectly spherical in reflections of laser light from the eye of a patient, aberrations of the eye can be measured and, hence, compensated for. In the '300 patent, light that is reflected from a patient's eye is passed through two reticles, and the resulting moire shadow pattern is presented on a screen. An imaging system images the shadow on the screen onto a camera, with subsequent analysis being undertaken of the imaged shadow. The technique of the '300 patent is based on geometrical or ray-tracing analysis, which as recognized herein requires theoretical assumptions to perform the geometrical analysis that limit the amplitude of the aberrations that can be measured as well as limit the accuracy with which the aberrations can be measured.
Certain embodiments of the technology discussed below may provide solutions to one or more of these drawbacks.